| Summary: | 碩士 === 華梵大學 === 哲學系碩士班 === 99 === Application of Life-comforting Philosophy of Chuang Tzu to Children’s Life and Death Education
Abstract
For many years, the education in Taiwan has been focusing on knowledge and skill learning of daily life, but it has neglected the education of life, which is more important to us. This phenomenon therefore makes modern people generally embrace false percepts and construction toward value and life. Back to two thousand three hundred years ago, the masterly thoughts and unworldly personality of Chuang Tzu had already revealed the mysterious veil of “Life”, and enabled us who live in modern days to reflect and explore the core and meaning of life.
Summing up the Chuang Tzu’s Philosophy of Life, it includes the attention to natural environment, respect to all living lives, surmounting difficulty of life, clearance of persistence to live and death, elimination of right and wrong, weakening fame and advantage, focusing on tranquility and preserving health, nurturing concepts of lohas lifestyle, and understanding of the state of burden-free happiness, etc.
Chuang Tzu’s principles to react to life: acquiescence, oblivion, adapting to nature, detached from one’s body, emotionless, fame-unconscious, merit-careless, selfless and life-comforting, etc. are the essential means to grasp the enlightenment; especially the life-comforting philosophy, for it is the pith of Philosophy of Chuang Tzu, and it means extraordinarily to modern society as to ultimate concern and grief adjustment.
Death has always been a forbidden topic in the society even until now. However, death exists in where life does. How should we face the grief and sorrow brought by life and death? Chuang Tzu indicated that we should view all the things on earth based on the nature. He elaborated his point of view as a master in Taoism and his philosophy of life by fables, which gave people uncountable inspiration and comforts.
This study intends to explain the relationship between human, self and heaven by fables originated from Chuang Tzu’s life-comforting concept. And it also searches for the path to health and life well-being when one comes to face illness and death of oneself and others and the universe. The study integrates the philosophy of life-comforting into modern children’s life and death education, and hopes instructors help children to establish nine notions in their life and death education: 1.) death exists where life exists 2.) beating a basin and sing along 3.) the spirit shall remain even though the body is destroyed 4.) be reasonable and free form secularity 5.) live with comfort and die at ease 6.) Quiet acquiescence in what happens at its proper time 7.) Aware that there is no alternative to their acting as they do, and rest in it as what is appointed 8.) Perfect enjoyment is to be without enjoyment 9.) the fire goes on even though the woods are burnt. With the notions above, we can affect later generations’ opinions toward life and death with Chuang Tzu’s profound philosophy, hence the fear of death can be reduced, and the children should then come to realize the meaning of life, and be respectful, passionate, and positive to life.
Keywords: Life-comforting Philosophy, Awareness of destiny, Education of Life and Death, Ultimate Concern, Grief Counseling
|
|---|
